SUSANNE BIER - BIER + BONNAIRE PULL OUT OF JURY DUTY AT BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

Danish director SUSANNE BIER and French actress SANDRINE BONNAIRE have pulled out of jury duty at the Berlin Film Festival. Both were set to sit on the jury which will award the German festival's Golden and Silver Bear top prizes - but have had to drop out due to personal commitments. Academy Award nominee Bier revealed an unexpected problem on a previous movie project has forced her to depart for the U.S. immediately. The Things We Lost in the Fire filmmaker says, "An unforeseen occurrence demanded my immediate professional presence elsewhere. For that reason I was unfortunately not able to perform the task of a jury member. I am very sad about this." And Mademoiselle star Bonnaire will not be appearing at the festival because she is unable to stay for the full-length of the event. The 40-year-old says, "For family reasons, I've been forced to cancel and ask everyone involved for their understanding. I'm so sorry about this." It is yet not known who will replace Bonnaire and Bier on the festival jury. Other judges on the panel include Hollywood actress Diane Kruger, Taiwanese screen siren Shu Qi, Russian media mogul Alexander Rodniansky and Oscar-winning sound designer Walter Murch. The festival kicked off on Thursday (07Feb08) with a gala premiere of Shine A Light - a Rolling Stone concert film by Martin Scorsese - and runs until 17 February (08).